Close Encounters of the Hermes Kind
by JokerCarnage5
Summary: LabRat reluctantly goes outdoors and almost loses Hermes to a hungry cat but out of the incident he meets a charming girl named Jasmine. Could this be the start of a beautiful friendship or something more? My first LabRat/Jasmine fic.


**Close Encounter of the Hermes Kind**

 **AN: Hey, look what I found just lying among my computer files. I wrote this story almost a year ago and just completely forgot about it. So I gave it a good duster-upper and uploaded it. So here it is, the world's first LabRat/Jasmin fic. It's fluffy and pretty conventional & uneventful but sometimes those stories are the best. So before I start babbeling like Abby at a mummy exhibition here is; **_**Close Encounter of the Hermes Kind.**_

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Paul Squirfenherder hated his name but only half as much as he hated the outdoors. When someone asked him why he usually made some excuse like dirt, the bugs or the supervillain with really convenient gross-related powers that was currently threatening the city (you would think that a gross villain would rather attack a city without Grossologists but whatever) but in reality Paul or LabRat which he preferred to be called, was scared. He had always been afraid of the outdoors. He was scared of feeling so small in such a big world. He hated the vast sky, the feel of all those plants under his feet and all the millions of unforeseen horrors that could happen. He preferred the indoors. It was cleaner, funnier and safer in his opinion. Also, his best friend Hermes preferred the indoors, even thou Hermes was a rat and not much of a conversationalist.

He only got out when all other options were exhausted. Like now when he needed to get home for new clothes. LabRat mostly slept over in the gaglab and often stockpiled on snacks & clothing but sometimes not even he had the foresight to predict unforeseen events, like Kid Rot invading his lab and destroying everything including the washing machine.

LabRat walked thru the city, on his way home. Hermes sat on his shoulder and gnawed a bit on his master's ear as to remind him of just how hungry he was. LabRat didn't mind much, it kept his mind away from all the inner-city pollution that surrounded him. "I know you are hungry buddy but we will be home soon. I am sure my folks have some crackers in their pantry."

Hermes stiffen at that. Crackers? What kind of snacks were crackers? He wanted nachos & fries & cheese puffs, not crackers.

"I know dude, it sucks." LabRat said. He knew his pets' preferences like the back of his own hand. He then saw a small boy staring at him as if he was crazy. _'Yeah, I talk to my rat, don't you ever talk to your dog?'_ He thought bitterly.

A few blocks later, LabRat started noticing how _unmoving_ Hermes was. The rat was just hoked to his back by his small claws. "You okay back there?" He asked a bit worried and turned around. He was a bit startled seeing a gray cat following them closely. The feline had a possessed look on his face.

"Get away!" LabRat hissed and kicked the air in front of the cat. This scared it to run back a few feet but it still remained within eyeshot. LabRat muttered a swear word under his breath. He lifted Hermes off his shoulder and placed him in his front pocket. "Stay here, buddy."

He continued walking but he soon realized that the cat was still following. It really annoyed him. A few times he turned around and tried to scare the cat away but he wasn't exactly very intimidating. LabRat did consider throwing a rock at the snarly predator but he never did have the heart to hurt an animal (not even a cat).

Even thou the idea of the cat running up and jumping at him to get to his beloved pet was rather farfetched it was enough to make the teenager paranoid. He started to speed up his tempo. His mind was fully occupied with just getting away from that dumb cat. Then…

 _*WHAMB*_

LabRat crashed into a cute brunette with glasses and fell to the ground. Hermes jumped out of his pocket and the cat took chase. Hermes scurried under a fence, into someone's backyard. While the cat could follow the Hermes, the fence was too low for him to do it in one go like the rat did. As the cat tried to squeeze thru the fence, a horrified LabRat grabbed the feline by the hips and tossed him to the side, forgetting his love for animals for just a second. Not liking being grabbed, the cat hissed aggressively.

"LEAVE US ALONE!" LabRat shouted at it. "GO!"

The cat decided that Hermes was simple to much work than he was worth. He turned his heels and walked away.

When LabRat turned his attention to finding his beloved pet he was distraught to see that the yard the little critter had run into was not only a backyard but a freaking garden. Thickly covered with hedges, flowerbeds and garden gnomes.

"It will take me hours to find him." LabRat sighed.

"Was that your pet rat?" Surprised to hear another voice, LabRat turned his head. It was the brunette who had asked. It hadn't even registered to the black teenager that she was still there.

"Yes, yes he is." He replied in the most robotic tone a living organism could make.

"Can I help?" The girl asked in a sensitive manner.

"You've already done enough." LabRat shoed her off and proceeded trying to climb over the fence.

"Wait." The girl said when he was a leg over. "I have an idea."

LabRat raised an eyebrow at this, to which the girl grinned. LabRat finally just shrugged and climbed off the fence. The girl took out a tiny bag of cheeseballs. It was already open but there was still a few crispy cheesy snacks left. The girl bent over the fence. It was so tall, her feet left the ground as she balanced on her hips. She held out the open snack bag. "Come here Hermes, come here." She called out in a soft tone.

"Come here Hermes, come old buddy." LabRat pitched in.

Soon enough, the white rodent ran out from a growth of magnolia. He ran up to the bag, stuck his head in and pulled out his now orange head with a cheeseball in the mouth. Most rats would be a bit more careful around a stranger but Hermes was not just smarter than most rats but a lot more gluttonous.

LabRat bent down and swiped the rodent of the grassy lawn. "Don't ever scare me like that." He lectured before nuzzling his cheek against the hairy critter. "But I am so glad you are okay."

Hermes gave him a quick glance before continue shewing. He could get cozy with his master later but right now he had cheese to eat. The rat was also considering charming this new girl. He had learned that girls gives you treats if you act cute around them.

LabRat turned to the brunette. "Thank you. He means a lot to me."

"No problems. It was my fault after all. I didn't see where I was going." She said.

"Neither did I and I am sorry for being rude, I was just worried." LabRat scratched his neck. Apologizing wasn't something to come natural to him but the girl somehow made it a bit easy for him.

The brunette took a few steps closer and reached out a hand. "I'm Jasmine."

' _Jasmine? Ty has mentioned her. She is part of his robot building-club and is according to Ty the only girl as smart as him. Then again, Ty always was very impressed with himself.'_ LabRat thought.

He studied Jasmine's hand a bit. It seemed clean. "I'm Paul." He said and shacked her hand lightly.

Then followed a moment of awkward silence between the two. Jasmine twirled a hairlock next to her ear and LabRat's eyes moved from one side to another.

"Well, I guess I should-

A sudden thunderclap interrupted LabRat mid-sentence. It was soon followed by a heavy downpour. LabRat frowned and sighed. "This is why I hate the outdoors."

Jasmine didn't seem very bothered by the rain. She took off her orange backpack and pulled out an umbrella. She extended the stretcher and stepped closer to LabRat, who flinched a bit to the closeness. "Where do you live?" She asked.

"31st Hector Street." LabRat replied.

"That's on my way home. You want to walk together till we get to your house?" Jasmine offered.

LabRat looked up at the sky before giving Jasmine a smile. "Better than getting soaked." He joked and the two started walking.

"You know, I have never seen you before." Jasmine stated. "Do you attend Ringworm High?"

"I don't go to school. I moved up to High school when I was twelve and then finished the exams my first year." LabRat replied.

Jasmine was genuinely impressed. "Wow, you must be super smart to do that?"

LabRat smirked. "I like to think of myself as rather intelligent." Once he said that his smirk faded. "In all actuality I was desperate to get away from school." _'Why did I say that? I barely know her so why should I tell her my plights.'_

Jasmine looked sympathetically at him. "Why? Where you bullied much?"

LabRat was surprised she cared. "No, I mean yes but it wasn't the reason. I have severe agoraphobia." He admitted.

"But you are outdoors now?" Jasmine pointed out.

"Sometimes I have to go out. Doesn't mean I like it." He replied.

Jasmine placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Well, you are very brave and if it helps you feel better, I have aviphobia."

LabRat smiled. This was definitely a warmer encounter than when he meet Paige for the first and hopefully last time. "So, Ty told me you're really good at building robots."

"Ty? Ty Archer?" Jasmine asked for clarification.

"Um, Yeah. He is a friend of mine. He comes over sometimes and plays video games or chess." LabRat explained. Of course it was a lie but he couldn't very well tell her about the bureau of Grossology now, could he? "So is Ty correct?"

"Oh, I love building stuff. I build robots, alarm clocks, model planes. I guess I just like tinkering with stuff. Sometimes, my dad allows me to fix his car."

"I once made a small car for Hermes."LabRat said.

"Cool." She commented.

' _I also built a flying all-terrain vehicle but I don't need to impress her too much. Wait, since when am I trying to impress her?"_

After a while, Hermes stuck his head out of LabRat's pocket, allured by the smell of cheese that came of Jasmine. Jasmine noticed.

"Would it be okay if I held him for a moment?"

"What?" LabRat looked down and saw Hermes. "Well, okay." He said and handed his pet over to Jasmine that in turn handed him the umbrella. Jasmine scratched Hermes under the chin which made the rodent shiver in delight. She gave him another cheese snack.

LabRat couldn't help but to study her features for a moment. The rain had made her hair glassy even thou it was probably the darkest hue of brown. Her thick yellow glasses rested on her cheek that still hadn't lost all its baby fat. She had freckles but not many. There was one feature thou that fascinated him the most. "That's a pretty cool belt."

Jasmine nudged the belt that was strapped around her waist. "My dad gave it to me. He made it himself when he and mom lived in Kansas. He wanted a son but he gave it to me anyway."

LabRat huffed humorously. "My dad wanted a basketball player. He got one, then he got me."

"I'm sure your dad is proud of you too. One has to be impressed with a son that finishes high school so early. So, I am from Kansas, you have already finished school, what's the story behind this little guy?" Jasmine asked teasingly and tickled Hermes' stomach.

"I found Hermes in a lab. He used to be a test animal but I didn't like the way they were treating him so I stole him." LabRat explained.

"You are a bit of a hero, aren't you?"

A smile tugged at LabRat's lips. _'I am almost never called a hero. Abby & Ty for sure but me? I stay in obscurity, where I belong.' _"A bit." He said nonchalantly.

They finally reached LabRat's house. It was a typical two store white house. "Well, here's the place." LabRat exclaimed and opened the little fence gate, "This is the place where I can pretend to be casual with my parents and change into something that doesn't smell like chili-fries & rat litter." He sarcastically exclaimed.

Jasmine giggled. "You don't smell so bad."

' _She did not just say that.'_

Jasmine gave Hermes one more cheese-ball before handing him to LabRat, which in turn gave her back her umbrella. Hermes took his usual spot on his owners shoulder.

"Do you have facebook?" The brunette asked.

"I have an account but I haven't used it in years." LabRat replied.

"Alright then." Jasmine took out a note pad and wrote down a few numbers before ripping of the paper. "Here, it's for my cellphone." She handed him the paper. She once again pressed the pen against the note pad. "Can I have yours?"

LabRat blinked puzzled. "473878203."

Jasmine smiled humorously. "You actually remember your own cellphone number?" Not many people she knew could their number. After all, few people actually had to call themselves.

"Photographic memory." Was LabRat's short answer.

Jasmin smiled amused again. "Of course." She said and wrote down his number just before the rain stopped. "Well, see there. Seem like I won't even need this." She said and unfolded the umbrella, stuffing it back into her backpack. Jasmine studied the sky for a few seconds. "I think it's possible a rainbow could come out of this. Wouldn't that be a worth going outdoors for?"

"Sure." LabRat said.

"Goodbye Paul, goodbye Hermes. Hope we meet again soon." Jasmine said as she walked away, waving cheerfully.

" _Hope so too."_ LabRat heard himself whisper under his breath. "Um, Wait Jasmine!" He shouted.

Jasmine stopped in her tracks and turned around.

"My friends calls me LabRat." He called out.

Jasmine blinked a bit puzzled. "That's really cute and all but doesn't it get a bit confusing when you have a pet rat on your shoulder." She shouted back at him.

"Um, yeah sometimes its gets a bit confusing." He admitted a bit embarrassed, smiling thou.

Jasmine giggled a bit. "Okay, see you sometime LabRat. Give my regards to Ty next time you see him!"

"Sure will!" LabRat exclaimed while waving to Jasmine that waved back. They continued waving to each other until Jasmine disappeared from his sight.

LabRat sighed pleased and turned around. He pulled out his house-key and was just about to put it in the keyhole when he suddenly realized something. "Wait a minute." He stuck his hand in his pocket again and pulled out the tiny note that Jasmine have him. Labrat just stared at it for a solid minute. Like it was some kind of unexplainable alien artifact rather than just a piece of paper with some numbers written on it. He looked at Hermes. "Did a cute girl just give me her number?"

Hermes just twiddled his nose a bit. Like mentioned, he was not much of a conversationalist.

"Hu," LabRat looked at the piece of paper again, "I guess sometimes going outside is worth it."

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 **AN: Man, LabRat was lucky. I was about to write that one final raindrop fell from the sky and smudged Jasmine's phone number but I was feeling merciful today. It probably means I have to torture some other character I love thou (it's my only way of show affection lol).  
So this story does have some similarities to my other fanfic, **_**Rot in Paradise.**_ **Like Kid Rot destroying the Gaglab and LabRat having photographic memory but this story does not take place in that continuity.**

 **Please review this story if you liked it.**


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